Covers/own material:

General comments:

Anna Ternheim can be moody and introspective, but she can also do upbeat pop. I think overall she has a similar sensibility to Sarah Blasko, though her music is less electronic. I also hear echoes of Beth Orton, and sometimes she uses her voice like Karen Peris of The Innocence Mission. (JoAnn Whetsell)

Anna Ternheim is easily my favourite new artist of 2005, though it was a *very* good year. (kjetilho@ifi.uio.no)

Comments:

Anna Ternheim seems to these Scandinavian ears icy, mysterious like a goddess of snow. She arrived fully formed with this collection of sad-eyed yet resilient songs. Her vocal delivery is hesitant, almost reluctant, measuring each word before it leaves her lips. The suicidal hymn "To be gone" intones "leave the body, leave the mind." It answers the Danish prince's question of to be or not to be with "not to be". Then there's the rueful "Better be" which hopes that a lover will find a good girlfriend next time around. A sliver of hope enters the proceedings as she isn't all about death or loss of love "My Secret" finds consolation in secrecy and loneliness, Ternheim seeming like a modern day Garbo, supreme in her isolation. The closing cover of Broder Daniel's desperate "Shoreline" is hardly cheerful. It literally leaves the listener stranded north of the Arctic Circle. "You die when you're young" she sings. Her music has so much darkness, but also so much tenderness and hope. It's an essential album and a gorgeous one at that. (stjarnell@yahoo.com)

Produced by:

Andreas Dahlbäck; co-produced by Anna Ternheim

Comments:

Ternheim's second album doesn't exactly lift its gaze from solitude and depression, but the palette is more vivid and the music bolder. "Girl laying down" is almost Waitsian in its verses where the instruments crash against the tale of a closed off life. "Today is a good day" despite the title, sounds defiantly proud in its sadness. "My life was a mess when I shared it with you" she sighs, seeing some consolation in self-containment. Song after song views the intrusion of a lover into the perfectly ordered life of a solitary being with guarded caution. "Lovers dream" sees her letting down her guard, but fearing it's already too late. Ternheim lays it all bare in her complex, troubled and troubling songs. She's not a warm, approachable singer and therein lays her allure. Here she's even better than on her debut. (stjarnell@yahoo.com)

Produced by:

Comments:

This EP compiled from previous work is a good introduction to her work and was intended to be just that for US audiences. I used to think of it as being mostly dark but sunny in places and only right for certain moods, but now I think of it like dusk, many shades of light and dark. (JoAnn Whetsell)

Produced by:

Björn Yttling

Comments:

Ternheim's third album has the same melancholy slant as her previous ones, but some more hope finds it way in. The up-tempo "What have I done" feels lighter than anything she's done before. Lyrically it's even tempered by a need for love and companionship in a less troubled way than in her previous work. The presence of a wider musical landscape hardly hurts either, the singer's still mysterious and icy, and her magic is undimmed. The sweeping use of strings on some songs is a film soundtrack waiting to happen. The lighter tone really becomes the singer. An early edition of the album adds a few odd Sinatra covers, but they are hardly essential. (stjarnell@yahoo.com)

Another great album from Anna—I think I prefer her simpler folk arrangements—this album has lots of interesting musical things going on, but I find it distracts a bit from her pure voice. (jjhanson@att.net)

I fell in love with her music when I first listened to her last album
Halfway To Fivepoints. The new album does not disappoint. Quietly powerful music. Listen to "No, I Don't Remember," "My Heart Still Beats For You" and "Make It On My Own." (jonwesleyhuff@gmail.com)

This is the album that really makes me think of Sarah Blasko. Musically there is more urgency; previous releases feel more laidback. I like both approaches. (JoAnn Whetsell)

DISCLAIMER: Comments and reviews in the Ectophiles' Guide are excerpted from the ecto mailing list or volunteered by members of the list. They are the opinions of music enthusiasts, not professional music critics.

Entry last updated 2017-12-16 17:35:05.
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